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.DS_Store files begone
Judging by the reaction to my MS Remote Desktop Client post, it is safe to assume I am not the only Mac user working in a Windows dominated office (nor am I the only one who takes care of lots of Windows machines). Therefore, extrapolating a little bit, I think I can safely say that folks who read this blog connect to Windows machines over the network for file-sharing.If you connect to a Windows file server (or any other file server) with OS X something is happening that you might not be aware of. OS X creates a .DS_Store file for each folder that you look at. This file contains preferences for the way those files and folders should be viewed. They are hidden away on OS X, so you never see them, however, if you connect to that Windows share with a Windows machine (after the Mac has connected) those darn files show up everywhere.Apple details how to stop OS X 10.4 from creating this files on remote servers, but warns that unforeseen consequences might be encountered.[via Paul Stamatiou]
Put a stop to pesky hidden files with BlueHarvest
Do you see all sorts of ".ds_store" and "._" files lying around on your external drive when you plug it into a Windows machine? Like this MacOSXHints reader, did you browse your company's network with your Mac, leaving a trail of ._ds_store and .Trash files in your wake? If you're nodding your head right now, I think I've found the solution for you: BlueHarvest, a preference pane that lets you manage and easily clean up these various kinds of Mac OS X-specific hidden files.BlueHarvest allows you to specify where these hidden files are created, offering different drive categories (startup disk, Servers, non-HFS disks, etc.) and allowing you to specify volumes and folders to leave alone. It even has a slick preference tab for drag and drop cleaning of .DS_Store files and resource forks from disks and directories.I've been playing with this for a couple days now and I have to say: it's pretty handy. I have a little flash drive I use for school and a SonyEricsson phone that I can mount on my Mac, both of which I can *finally* say are truly devoid of pesky hidden files. BlueHarvest works on 10.3.9 and 10.4.x, offers a 30 day trial and costs a mere $10 - small price to pay to regain your hidden file sanity.
